Must Bake Fall Recipes - Apple, Pumpkin, Pecan, Maple and Fall Spice (2024)

September 4, 2018May 31, 2023 Updated onMay 31, 2023

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Fall is my favorite baking season. The flavors and aromas are the very best, don’t you agree? Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger, baking with apples, pumpkin, pecans and maple. There is nothing more enjoyable than baking with the flavors and scents of fall.

Sometimes I feel like apple season takes a back seat to Pumpkin. Thanks to Starbucks and Pumpkin Spice, everyone seems to jump right into pumpkin season. I think apple season is equally as important, don’t you? Here in Nebraska, we have the Apple Jack Festival every year, and it’s a huge draw to the orchards in Nebraska City. Apple desserts are some of my favorites. You can’t beat the taste of perfectly spiced apples topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

• Granny Smith – This tart apple is grown in Australia, and it top choice for most bakers.
• Honey Crisp – This apple’s firmness is superb when it comes to holding up in the oven, it’s got a nice sweetness, too, that you are sure to enjoy.
• Braeburn – These apples will hold their own in the oven. No mushy apple desserts here.
• Pink Lady or Cripps Pink – Not only one of my favorites for eating, but for baking, too. Perfect balance between sweet and tart.
• Jonathan – Firm and tart apples make for excellent pies.

Our Must Bake Apple Desserts:

• Fresh Apple Cake – Baked in a 9×13 baking dish, this perfectly spiced, moist apple cake is topped with gobs of whipped cream.
• The Very Best Apple Crisp-This is without a doubt the best ever Apple Crisp I have ever eaten. Perfectly spiced apples covered in a buttery cinnamon oatmeal crunch topping. Serve it warm, finished off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• Apple Crostata – This rustic looking crostata is full of spiced apples. Next time, try this in stead of a pie, and watch it disappear.
• Lattice Topped Baked Apples – Apples hollowed out, and re-stuffed with spiced apples, topped with a lattice pie crust and baked. Served with vanilla ice cream.
• German Apple Dessert – Slightly sweet, this German apple cake is baked in a round cake pan, although it isn’t tall and “cake-y” like you would think. It’s easy to make and a nice fall dessert.
• Apple Dumplings with Rum Sauce-These apples are topped with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, then wrapped in puff pastry and baked until golden brown. Top them off with a spiced rum caramel glaze before serving.
• Apple Cinnamon Crumble – Baked in their own individual ramekins, these apple cinnamon crumbles make a great dessert with flavors of fall.
• Apple Kuchen– A traditional German dessert made of a ‘not too sweet’ cake, a layer of fresh apples sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, and drizzled with vanilla glaze. Heavenly!

Our Must Bake Apple Breads, Muffins and Pastries

• Apple Monkey Bread – This apple monkey bread is ooey gooey sticky like a sweet roll, and sprinkled with apples and all of the spice flavors of fall!
• Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins: Ridiculously easy to make, these muffins make a healthy and filling grab and go breakfast from Lisa’s Dinnertime Dish.
• Apple Pumpkin Strudel – Couldn’t decide which category to add this one to. It’s fits both of the most popular fall flavors, pumpkin and apple. This one is perfect with your favorite mug of goodness.
• Apple Pie Muffins – a muffin with crumbled apple pie baked right into it. This moist and delicious treat is the perfect way to use up leftover apple pie, from Seduction in the Kitchen.
• Apple Bread – is a quick bread that will taste like dessert. It’s full of fall flavors and a great treat to make. An easy recipe by Seduction in the Kitchen.
• Apple Cider Donuts – Just like childhood, these apple cider donuts are sure to hit the spot. From Taste of Home.

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Pumpkin has always been associated with fall baking, but I truly think that Starbuck’s took it to a whole other level when they introduced the Pumpkin Spice Latte “PSL” in 2003. It seems to come out just a little bit earlier each year, helping us long for that classic taste of pumpkin. The internet is FULL of pumpkin recipes, and I’ve narrowed them down to your Must Bake Pumpkin list this fall.

Best Pumpkins for Baking: All Pumpkins are edible, but not all are suitable for Baking

• Baby Bear
• Baby Pam
• Cinderella
• Fairytale

Read more about baking pumpkins at the Daily Meal.

Fall’s Must Bake Pumpkin Desserts

• Cinderella Cake – Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting -Moist spiced pumpkin bundt cake with creamy cream cheese frosting, topped with toasted pecans.
• Better Than *Anything* Pumpkin Poke Cake – Aunt Bee’s Recipes will tell you she isn’t a baker by nature, but this cake is too easy not to try!
• Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake with Brown Butter Glaze –Spiced coffee cake with pumpkin and walnuts, drizzled in a spiced brown butter glaze. The perfect way to start a fall morning!
• No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Balls – Who Needs a Cape’s delicious alternative to the traditional pies. Wow your friends & family with these autumn dessert delights!
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirled Brownies: Creamy pumpkin cheesecake swirled between fudgy layers of chocolate pumpkin brownies.
• Pumpkin Cake Roll – The Foodie Affair makes thiseasy fall cake roll and it’s the hit of her holiday parties.
• Pumpkin Spice Bars: Moist, cakey pumpkin bars topped with a pumpkin spiced cream cheese frosting.
• Pumpkin Dump Cake – Exactly what it sounds like, you dump the ingredients into a 9×13 and bake. Topped with whipped cream, it’s really delicious!

• Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce: All of the flavors of pumpkin pie combine with homemade brioche bread and it’s topped off with a sinful salted caramel sauce.
• Spice Cookies with Pumpkin Dip– Tiny, soft and chewy spice cookies surround a bowl of pumpkin dip — perfect for fall entertaining.
• Slow Cooker White Chocolate Pumpkin Cake – Who Needs a Cape? shares this delicious dessert in a snap right from her crockpot. The ease and deliciousness of a dump cake, perfect for fall.
• Pumpkin Delight – Light and airy pumpkin delight dessert from The Foodie Affair, is full of fall flavors: gingersnap crust, creamy pumpkin filling with cream cheese, and fresh whipped cream topped with chopped pecans!
• Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake – Lemon Blossom’s amazing combination of creamy pumpkin spiced cheesecake with a rich graham cracker and pecan crust.
• Pumpkin Roll Trifle – Mildly Meandering brings us this elegant fall dessert that’s perfect to feed a crowd. Gorgeous layers of pumpkin roll, crushed gingersnaps, pumpkin mousse, and whipped cream!
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars – This 4 ingredient recipe from Aunt Bee’s Recipes will make your pumpkin loving heart pitter patter!
• The Best Ever Pumpkin Pie – Life Currents boasts the best ever pumpkin pie, taking just a little while longer, but worth all of the effort!
• Slow Cooker Sticky Caramel Pumpkin Cake – A delicious pumpkin cake from your slow cooker that goes together quickly and takes just a couple of hours to cook, from Plattertalk.

Fall’s Best Pumpkin Breads, Muffins and Pastries

• Two Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins – You heard it! 2 ingredients, and a batch of soft pumpkin muffins are all yours!
• Pumpkin Pie Croissant Bundles -Easy to make croissants filled with cream cheese, pumpkin and fall spices. Lower calorie recipe that doesn’t require sugar, to keep calories down and you able to eat the fall flavors you love!
• Glazed Double Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread – Aunt Bee’s Recipes has hit all of my favorites in one delicious pumpkin bread!
• Glazed Pumpkin Donuts– Moist baked pumpkin donuts, dunked in a spiced glaze.
• Pumpkin Spiced Banana Bread Muffins – These muffins are so moist and perfectly fall spiced from the bread to the crumb topping.
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Baked French Toast – Easy breakfast with all of the flavors of fall.
• Pumpkin Zucchini Streusel Bread -Zucchini bread made with pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Topped it off with a heap of delicious streusel topping. Makes two loaves, one to keep and one to share!
• Pumpkin Bread– Moist pumpkin bread drizzled in the most amazing fall spiced glaze.

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Pecans (Pee-Can? Pee-Cahn? Pah-Can? Pah-Cahn?) Many nuts go well in baked goods, but pecans always seem to remind me of fall. The flavor with fall spices is second to none.

What to bake with Pecans?

• pie
• top sticky rolls
• cookies
• turtles and pralines
• eat them toasted or candied

Our Favorite Pecan Recipes

• Sugared Pecans –Candy coated pecans flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. Make perfect gifts, or fillers on holiday platters.
• Perfectly Toasted Pecans– Make perfect, buttery toasted pecans for snacking or for use in all sorts of recipes.
• Pecan Pie– No Thanksgiving dessert table is complete without the classic pecan pie. (Pee-Can? Pee-Cahn? Pah-Can? Pah-Cahn?) Anyway you say it, you gotta make it!
• Ice Cream Sticky Rolls –Ooey – Gooey Cinnamon Rolls baked with a sweet caramel-like syrup and pecans. Nobody will believe you made these rolls with ice cream!
• Pie Crust Cookies with Whisky Caramel Drizzle – Simple and flaky pie crust is transformed into easy pie crust cookies topped with a pecan and drizzled with a whiskey caramel sauce, from Take Two Tapas.
• Cinnamon Crunch Coffee Cake – Perfectly sweet coffee cake with a cinnamon crunch middle and topping made with pecans. Ideal with your favorite cuppa!

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What spices make you think of the crisp days of fall? The warming scents and flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg but what else?

Must Use Fall Spices:

• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Clove
• Ginger
• Anise
• All Spice

• Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice – Take Two Tapas doesn’t run to the store when she needs Pumpkin Pie Spice, she makes her own!
• Fall Spiced Banana Bread– Moist Banana Bread full of the flavors of fall; cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
• Fall Spiced Walnuts – Walnuts, sweetened and lightly coated with all of the flavors of fall, from Take Two Tapas.
• Sweet Potato Muffins – The Foodie Affair makes theselight and airy muffins with whole wheat pastry flour and leftover mashed sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving.
• Homemade Marshmallows with Pumpkin Pie Spice – Take Two Tapas makes these in about 30 minutes, add them to your hot cocoa, or top baked sweet potatoes with them. Dreamy!
• Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread -Each section of this Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread is layered with cinnamon, baked to a golden brown, the loaf is then frosted with a cream cheese frosting.
• Cinnamon Toffee-Monkey Muffins -These mini monkey bread muffins are the perfect snack for the holidays or anytime.
• Apple Pie Spice – Skip the store-bought, expensive Apple Pie Spice mix and make your own with spices in your pantry. Customize the levels of cinnamon and spices to your liking, just like Take Two Tapas!

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Last, but certainly not least, let’s talk about Maple. Maple seems like a natural fit with Fall. Warm fall baked goods, and breakfasts with maple just speak “comfort.”

Must Bake Maple Recipes

• Baked Maple Donuts with Cinnamon and Sugar – These maple flavored baked donuts from lovin’ from the oven are dusted in cinnamon sugar.
• Maple Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Maple Cinnamon Glaze – Betty Crocker’s Maple bundt cake it top notch! It’s a must make for the Maple lover.
• Maple Bacon Bourbon Pecan Muffins – Seduction in the Kitchen says “Cupcakes for Breakfast!” Sweet maple cream cheese icing on top of a buttery delicious bacon filled cupcake garnished with bourbon pecans.
• Maple Bacon Cheese Twists – Sweet sticky maple syrup coats the crispy salty bacon all encased in flaky puff pastry. A great recipe from West Via Midwest.
• Maple Bacon Glazed Cinnamon Rolls – Who Needs a Cape? knows just how to make those cinnamon rolls better – add a maple bacon glaze!
• Milk Chocolate Maple Bacon Cookies – Say what? The Foodie Affair went there — she added bacon and maple to her chocolate chip cookies!
• Maple Bacon French Toast – A perfect balance of sweet maple syrup, tender challah bread and crisp salty bacon, from LeMoine Family Kitchen.

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Who’s ready to dig out those cozy blankets and wrap up in a soft sweater and get to Fall? Well, even if you’re not quite there yet, you have a wealth of recipes to get you inspired. Make sure you pin the whole collection, or click through and save your favorites individually so you can find them when you are ready. Let’s welcome Fall with open arms and hungry tummies!

A heartfelt thank you to my blogger friends who contributed to this amazing list of Must Bake Recipes for Fall.

Speaking of my Amazing Blogger friends … Look at these Fall Loving Round Ups from some of my favorites!